Opinion | Central government must take the lead on China's hukou reform
Hu Shuli says to speed up progress, the high costs of instituting change cannot fall on local governments alone and must be shared by Beijing
Come autumn, the government will consider a series of major reforms, including household registration reform. The reform, which is closely linked to urbanisation, involves people's land, welfare and a host of other issues, and progress has been slow.
In the face of China's declining growth potential, a shrinking "demographic dividend", and growing social tensions, changing the dual rural-urban social structure is the way to effectively move human resources to areas and regions where production is more efficient. At the same time, it accelerates the country's switch to a new pattern of economic growth so as to prevent the country falling into the "middle-income trap".
Therefore, household registration reform is a major step China must take.
The household registration system is embedded in China's social system. Established in 1958, it was intended not only to be a community management tool, but also intertwines with many social welfare issues unique to cities.
With the large-scale movement of population since the reform and opening up of China began, the function of the household registration system in terms of community management has been weakening. At the same time, a welfare system for city dwellers led by local governments has taken shape in the past decade, which has further widened the gulf between urban and rural households.
Reform should focus on decoupling social welfare from household registration and building a system to deal with relevant welfare issues according to people's residential addresses. To this end, the government should promote equal access to basic public services while deepening reforms for social security.